Informl = wiki + forms + db

Informl allows you to

  • create web pages and simple database-backed web applications
  • using only your browser
  • without any programming

Overview

Informl is intended to help you structure the information that you depend on to run your business or organization: customer records, inventory, orders and shipments, vacation records, contracts, patents, etc.

Note that the current implementation is at an early adopter, pre-beta stage.

Goals

  • easy to use
  • information is protected, secure, and available to those who need it, when they need it
  • adaptable, customizable -- doesn't assume a specific workflow, or impose unnatural constraints
  • data can be structured, permitting ease-of-reuse, generation of reports, etc.
  • make it feasible for small businesses, non-profits, etc. to afford custom tools

Features

  • General wiki features
    • uses markdown for text markup
    • additions to markdown for wikilinks, tables, page inclusion
    • RSS feeds
    • live preview
  • Form elements
    • radio buttons
    • dropdown selectors (combo boxes)
    • check boxes
    • buttons
    • text fields and text areas
  • Database
    • data submitted through forms goes into a database
    • each page's schema is built and migrated on the fly to match the form content
    • pages can include results of database queries
    • uses ActiveRecord for integration with other Rails applications
  • Automatically generated results and summary pages
  • General-purpose extension mechanism
    • examples include dates, tables, Google Maps

For more information, see: informl cheatsheet, wiki organization, referencing, extensions.

Recent additions

  • backup/restore using YAML, allowing easy migration to different databases
  • RESTful controllers and routes
  • sortable summary table view
  • authentication
  • page deletion, book creation
  • search
  • more complex database queries (including some join cases)
  • per-page RSS feeds, and feeds for submissions

Some missing features

  • file upload, attachments
  • finer-grained roles (more than author / guest)
  • administration: dump/load books, rename pages, manage complex database migrations
  • mandatory form fields
  • validations
  • versioning of submissions and schemas
  • date picker, password fields

Potential Features

For more details on what we're working on, see storytracker.

powered by tartan and informl from folklogic